Hour 10: Lehto Continues
Champion Racing is sitting pretty at the end of the 10th hour of the 73rd Le Mans 24 Hours, with its pair of Audi R8s running first and second at 02:00, JJ Lehto a lap ahead of Emanuele Pirro

This has left the way clear for the Jim Gainer International Dome to extend its advantage in third place, with Katsumoto Kaneishi still at the wheel. However, the car on the move is the Pescarolo Sport of Jean-Christophe Boullion which is a lap down in fourth place and closing.
Since midnight, Franck Montagny and Audi Playstation Team ORECA have been the biggest losers, having spent more than 17 minutes in their pit for a second batch of replacement work on their front suspension and dropping two laps behind the Pescarolo.
The Racing for Holland Dome was also delayed, first with John Bosch limping back to the pits with a puncture and then in a subsequent pit stop for a radiator to be replaced. Team boss and lead driver Jan Lammers outlined the problems that have dropped the car from sixth to 14th: "We picked up some debris which led to the puncture. But this also damaged a radiator and the guys have done a tremendous job to get John back out there. Now, we'll simply have to pick up the pace again and see where that will leave us later today."
Showing an excellent turn of speed and remarkable reliability, the Aston Martin that is leading GT1 is up to sixth overall, nine laps up on the best of the LMP2 cars. Pedro Lamy is at the wheel and has just set his car's fastest lap. The sister DBR9 has lapped faster, but is three laps adrift after enduring three stop-and-go penalties, all coming when Darren Turner was at the wheel. These equate to a loss of more than six and a half minutes.
Jan Magnussen is chasing after Lamy's Aston Martin with his Corvette C6.R placed seventh, almost precisely a minute ahead of the sister C6.R of Max Papis.
Sandwiched between them is a car that has received little mention, the Team Jota Zytek. Sam Hignett is at the wheel, circulating in eighth place overall.
Delayed badly early in the race when it needed a water pump changed, the Creation Autosportif DBA4 has made it back to the top ten with Nicolas Minassian chasing after Papis's Corvette.
In LMP2, it's Paul Belmondo Racing first and second as the Claude-Yves Gosselin/Karim Ojjeh/Adam Sharpe Courage moved ahead of the Intersport Racing Courage that Gregor Fisken had brought in after complaining of a vibration. Liz Halliday was sent out, but the engine failed and the car has been retired. Another car out of LMP2 is the Miracle Motorsports Courage that lost a wheel when leaving the pits and was pulled out after it rolled backwards into the pitlane again.
Jorg Bergmeister found his White Lightning Racing Porsche in an unusual predicament in GT2, getting stuck "between gears". This allowed the Alex Job Racing team to stretch away, with Mike Rockenfeller taking over from Marc Lieb and pulling away as Bergmeister handed over to Patrick Long.
How Formula E's double-duty drivers influenced their Le Mans teams' fortunes
Eight Formula E drivers made the 7,000-mile sprint from the streets of Jakarta to the fabled Circuit de la Sarthe and every one had a story to share at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite a range of triumphs and disappointments, each driver doubling up on the day job played a key role in their teams' fortunes
How an Italian junior formula giant is readying for its Le Mans future
Prema remains a colossus in single-seaters, but the serial Formula 2 and Formula 3 title-winning squad has joined forces with top GT squad Iron Lynx for an attack on sportscars in the World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series. Ahead of its debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, its sights are firmly fixed on LMP2 glory – and a future in Hypercars next year...
The British rookies targeting a good first impression at Le Mans
Three young Britons will make their first starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend in the highly-competitive 23-car GTE Am field. But how did they get here? Autosport hears their stories.
The wingless wonder Peugeot hopes will restore it to Le Mans glory
Peugeot went radical with the initial plan for its Le Mans Hypercar project, and then stuck to its guns. Here’s how things are shaping up a few weeks before the debut of the 9X8 in next month's Monza World Endurance Championship round
How Toyota’s sole survivor turned the tables at Spa
After a chastening opening to the season at Sebring that ended in an enormous accident, Toyota's #7 crew got their World Endurance Championship underway with victory at a treacherously slippery Spa to make up for its sister car's Sebring defeat to Alpine, as Glickenhaus's promising qualifying turned to disaster in the race
The Chinese sportscar protege targeting a path to the top with Porsche
Yifei Ye came within one lap of winning the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hours debut last year, and his eye-catching 2021 has gained Porsche’s interest. With the German manufacturer preparing for a return to the top tier, the Chinese youngster is on the path to join it
How WEC got off to a stormy start in 2022 as rulemakers dampen Toyota's dominance
Toyota’s stranglehold on the World Endurance Championship ended at the 2022 opener at Sebring, but all accusing eyes were on the Balance of Performance system as the key to the shake-up. Here's how it unfolded, to see Alpine celebrating under a stormy sky having blown away the defending champions
Why Penske remains ambitious for its WEC learning year
Team Penske is gearing up for its role in running Porsche’s LMDh programme from 2023 by entering this year's World Endurance Championship with an LMP2 car. Although the team is considering 2022 as a season to learn, it is no less serious about winning than ever - which should make the already fiercely competitive class even more so